Back Numbers 10
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In This Issue: Columns: Revealed At Last (Editorial Comments) ............................................2 The Round Table (Letters of Comment)...........................................3 Pulp Sources.....................................................................................6 Mailing Comments....................................................................17-19 Books Bought/Books Read.......................................................21-28 Reviews ROCURED Black Gate #6 .............................................................................. 4-6 The Men Who Made The Argosy P George Surdez................................................................................19 Will McMorrow.............................................................................20 95404 CA, Santa Rosa, Articles Robert E. Howard Collector’s Checklist ..................................... 7-16 1130 Fourth Street, #116 1130 Fourth Street, ASILY E Corrections: E Corrections to Back Numbers, Issue 8: Steve Young’s wife’s name is Denise. B AN C UMBERS N ACK B Prepared for P.E.A.P.S. mailing #66 Harris Warren for P.E.A.P.S. Prepared January 2004January (707) 577-0522 Issue 10(revised) [email protected] email: Back Numbers The Collyer Syndrome has struck again. In late this issue. We’d have had a pretty skimpy issue this time December, a New York City man was rescued by fi re- without his welcome contribution. I’m also very happy fi ghters from his apartment after he was trapped for sev- to have a letter of comment this time from one of my on- eral days under collapsed piles of books and magazines. line readers. Patrice Moore, 43, reportedly sold scavenged maga- • zines on the streets, earning $300 a week. Yeah, right, I I feel like I’m cheating by taking up so much space believe you can make $300 a week selling old scavenged issues with my “Books Read vs. Books Bought” feature. I keep of Ebony on the streets of New York. Sure I do. thinking that I can’t really bring in that many books on a His apartment was reportedly fi lled with stacks of regular basis, that my recent lists are unusual, but I guess paper items. According to news accounts, his apartment I really do buy that many books every quarter. was only 10 feet square with just enough room for him • to sleep, although some reports said his bed was also cov- I know some folks will be wondering why I’m both- ered in books and magazines. ering to run a checklist of Robert E. Howard books. I It took neighbors and rescue workers several hours to did this list for myself to fi nd out what I needed to fi nd free him, fi lling 50 garbage bags in the process. The fi re for my own collection. I decided that as long as I was department ordered the building evacuated because of doing the work, I might as well run it here. fears the weight of the books would collapse the fl oor. I wanted a simple checklist to fi nd out how many He had been calling for help for several days, but Howard paperbacks I needed to fi nd to complete my col- neighbors ignored him because he often talked to him- lection. I couldn’t fi nd one online that was up-to-date, self and played loud music. He was discovered when his easy to use and organized the way I wanted. As long as I landlord stopped by to give him a loan he’d asked for was doing paperbacks, I threw in the hardbacks and the several days before. chapbooks of which I’m aware. I make no claim that this The always sensitive New York Post’s headline read: is a complete checklist, although it is as complete as I Bookworm Squished. The paper was also kind enough could make it. to note that he was buried in the “buff”. How embar- Any corrections or additions would be very much rassing, not only do you look like an idiot, but you’re appreciated. naked to boot. This list quickly led me into deep quicksand. To keep Moore estimated that he had some 3,000 items in his my sanity, and make the deadline, I excluded all of the collection. Only 3000 items? Heck, I’ve got more than 3,000 adaptations, related works by other writers, comics and items. Mine are neatly put away on bookshelves though, at least other peripheral items. until the next big earthquake in these parts. The checklist is based on my own collection, articles, • publisher lists and bibliographic information found at the I’d like to welcome aboard Shane Roth as a reviewer REHUPA website and elsewhere on the web. Back Numbers Can Be Easily Procured is published whenever Warren Harris gets around to it. Contents copyright 2004 by Warren Harris. All rights revert to creators upon publication. Back Number is prepared for the membership of the Pulp Era Amateur Press Society. Copies of all issues in Acrobat PDF format can be found on the web at www.efanzines.com. 2 Back Numbers like the ACE paperbacks of the 50’ and 60’s. Like you, when I buy a book I look to see if the stories were actu- ally from the pulps because I enjoy them more. These stories must have come from the general interest pulps from 1915-1928. There are two Grey Seal stories by Packard, a Craig Kennedy by Reeve, a Dr. Thorndyke by Freeman, 3 Cleek stories by Hanshew, a Sax Rohmer, 3 stories by R.T.M. Scott, a story by George Allen England, a Raf- fl es story by Hornung and many others that must have Hi Warren, pulp origins. Have you ever heard of this set of books? I would I just ran across your mag on the net, and it is right like more info from you or your readers in the pulp com- up my alley. I have been reading and collecting pulps for munity. I found some info in the series of Yesterday’s about 30 years although I can’t afford to buy too many. Faces books by Sampson, but I would like to know if this I am like you in that I frequent used book stores, library is a common set or something the pulp collectors haven’t sales and garage sales. heard of. I started as a science fi ction fan so the fi rst pulps I got I want to thank you again for making Back Numbers were sf titles from Gerry de la Ree. He had lots of Star- available on line. tling, Thrilling, Wonder, Famous Fantastic Mysteries, etc. at good prices ($3-$5) and the condition was great. After Ron Duplechain a while I decided to try other genres so I bought issues of Argosy, Blue Book, Dime Detective, Weird Tales, etc. I only have about 400 pulps, but I have many true Hi Ron: detective mags from the 30’ and 40’s. On one of my trips to an antique show at a local mall I’m always glad to hear from a reader. I’m happy my zine I found 7 issues of Secret Agent X dating from 1934 (vol.1 has struck a chord with you. no.1) thru 1935 and they were in very nice condition Sometimes I think it’s a good thing that I can’t afford too with glossy covers. These cost me all of $8.00 each. At many pulps, as I have a hard enough time trying to fi nd space a garage sale I picked up 10 of the Doc Savage doubles for to store the ones I can afford. 25 cents each. I too came into pulp collecting as a science fi ction reader and Like you, I like the hardboiled detectives such as then branched out into other pulps. For those of us who were too Hammett and Spade, but I also love Race Williams, young to buy pulps new I think that it is a common entry point. Dan Turner, and that bunch. My favorite modern PIs Science fi ction seems to remember and respect its pulp origins are Andrew Vachss’ Burke, Robert Crais’ Elvis Cole more than other genre fi ction. and Kinky Friedman, but my favorite has to be Robert I’ve found a couple of the Ralph Dennis books, but I haven’t Dennis’ Hardman. I fi rst heard of the Dennis books from had time to read them yet. He seems to be a hard writer to fi nd articles in a Summer 1986 issue of Hardboiled and a 1983 these days. I think many bookstores are not willing to carry his issue of Mystery Scene. These books were published in the books, either because they are not recent best sellers or because 70s by Popular Library and there are 12 in the series. they look like men’s series adventure fi ction like the Butcher, They were packaged like the Destroyer books and were Executioner, etc. I’ll have to make a point of trying Dennis soon titled Hardman #1: Atlanta Death Watch through Hardman as you are not the fi rst to recommend him to me. #12: The Buy Back Blues, but the are gritty hardboiled I have heard of The World’s Best 100 Detective Stories private eye novels set in Atlanta during the 70’s. In 1986 by Eugene Thwing. John DeWalt loaned me one volume he I managed to fi nd 8 of the 12 books at a used book store found that has a Harry S. Keeler story in it. I’ll keep an eye for half the .95 cover price. I have read them three times out for the entire series. since, and I’m not one to read a book more than once This may have been one of several similar series like this because I have hundred of books that I haven’t read.